Te Amo, Alberto...

The Ringing Silence

Ring, ring, ring
The silence answers first.
No click, no hello,
Just the hum of distance
Growing louder than your love.

My heart dials you
With hope tucked in its sleeves,
But every unanswered call
Feels like a door gently closing
On something I’m afraid to lose.

You’re not far.
Not really.
But the space between your delay
And my desire feels like a canyon.

I know you’re busy.
I know you’ll get back when you can.
But each minute ticks like a question:
Am I worth the reach?
The ring?
The return?

When my calls go unanswered,
I replay the silence
Like a voicemail I never left
Wondering if you felt it,
The ache behind the ringtone.

It’s not anger. Just ache.
A quiet kind of sadness that builds
Each time I try and fail
To bridge the space between us.

So if ever you wonder
Why does my voice sound smaller,
Softer, less certain
It’s because even missed calls
Leave bruises.